A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 19th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On December 19, 1907, the Darr Mine disaster in Van Meter, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County) killed a total of 239 miners, both men and boys.
On December 19, 1912, US President William H. Taft pardoned the skipper of the ill-fated cruise ship, the PS General Slocum, which had burned and sunk on June 15, 1904, costing over 1000 people their lives.
On December 19, 1941, in one of the most daring raids of World War II Italian Navy divers snuck into Alexandria harbor and heavily damaged two British battleships.
On December 19, 1956, Dr. John Bodkins Adams was accused of murdering 160 (or more!) of his patients!
On December 19,1961, the armed forces of India completed Operation Vijay, a land, sea and air assault against the Portuguese enclaves on Indian soil in the Goa region.
On December 19, 1974, former governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, was sworn in as Vice President of the US.
On December 19, 1974, Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, a job he was not elected to, to serve under President Gerald Ford, another guy not elected to the office he held, or even to the vice presidency before that!
On December 19, 2016, another part of our democratic process took place when the 538 electors of the Electoral College voted in the official US Presidential election of 2016.
On December 19, 2018, we took the opportunity to review the latest blockbuster DC Universe superhero film, Aquaman, a major motion picture that opened across the United States on December 21, 2018.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.